Product Information

Overview

Pristine sound

The A5 is designed to deliver spacious sound, from the highest quality audio files, wirelessly. Drivers from Bowers & Wilkins M-1 speakers, anti-resonance plug technology, and dimpled Flowports combine with high-quality, digital-to-analog converters and processors to carry a digital signal untainted by distortion, to a room-filling, yet surprisingly compact, system.

Stay in control

Play and control music wirelessly, anywhere in the room. Or, with more than one A5 forming a multiroom system you walk your music from room to room effortlessly in the palm of your hand.

Listening how you like it

AirPlay on A5 works seamlessly with your favorite music apps, like Last.fm, Pandora, and Mixcloud.

Easy set-up

The free Bowers & Wilkins AirPlay Setup App will walk you through the simple steps to connect your A5 to Wi-Fi, and choose and manage your settings, all wirelessly.

Highlights

High-quality Class-D amplifier

Single discreet, compact unit

Comes with Apple AirPlay technology

Optimized to handle broadest range of frequencies

Play music wirelessly from computer, iPhone or even apps

Pristine sound

Did you notice?

Compact and designed to perform in out-of-the-way areas, the A5 is a great choice for places where space is at a premium.

Apple Recommends For

Playing and controlling your music wirelessly, from anywhere in the room.

What's in the Box?

Bowers & Wilkins A5 AirPlay Wireless Music System

Power supply

Remote

Tech Specs

Frequency Response: 40 - 24,000 Hz

Input Type: 3.5mm Stereo Jack

Other Features: AirPlay

Connections: AirPlay, Wireless

Drivers: 4

Power Source: AC

Height: 7.1 in./180 mm

Width: 11.8 in./300 mm

Weight: 7.94 lb./3.6 kg

Length: 4.7 in./120 mm

Manufacturer Information

Part Number

Mfr. Part Number: FP33936

UPC or EAN No.: 714346314959

Warranty

Note: Products sold through this website that do not bear the Apple Brand name are serviced and supported exclusively by their manufacturers in accordance with terms and conditions packaged with the products. Apple's Limited Warranty does not apply to products that are not Apple-branded, even if packaged or sold with Apple products. Please contact the manufacturer directly for technical support and customer service.

Featured App

Bowers & Wilkins Control

Welcome to the Bowers & Wilkins Control app, formerly known as Bowers & Wilkins AirPlay Setup.

This intuitive app will help you to setup and manage your Wireless Music System. For new Wireless Music System owners, the app will walk you through all the simple steps to connect to your Wi-Fi network and start streaming your music quickly. For existing owners the app will discover your Wireless Music Systems and let you manage the name settings.

To get started with your Wireless Music System setup or management, simply launch the app and follow the on screen instructions. Help is available in each step as you go, and you can contact Bowers & Wilkins from the app if you need more assistance.

To get the best experience with your Bowers & Wilkins Wireless Music System, ensure you have the latest version of this app, as new features and improvements will be added in future updates.

Please note:

• This app is only compatible with A5, A7, Z2 and Zeppelin Air.

• To use AirPlay on your iPod touch, iPhone or iPad, iOS 4.2 or higher is required.

• To use AirPlay on your Mac or PC, iTunes 10.1 or later is required.…

Beautiful Clarity and Apple Like Quality

5.0 out of 5 stars

Like other B & W products this speaker has beautiful clarity. Strings are fantastic. You hardly remember that this is only a $50
Like other B & W products this speaker has beautiful clarity. Strings are fantastic. You hardly remember that this is only a $500 speaker. The build is quality and matches up nicely with apple products detailed finishes. It took me all of 2 minutes to set-up with the handy airplay set-up app. After set-up, my speaker initially cut out a few times but I simply recycled (pulled the plug and restarted) my time capsule (Wifi). Problem solved and after 6 hours of playing; no issues. It also works great with my Zeppelin on multiple speakers airplay mode. If you want a home full of beautiful sound, you can do it very inexpensively with a few of these units.

I highly recommend this speaker. I can't wait to get my B & W A7 as well.
…

Written by Randy E from Collingwood

Nov 12, 2012

72 of 93 people found this useful

Was this useful?
Beautiful Clarity and Apple Like Quality

Very good for the size

5.0 out of 5 stars

Bought this to use in a small room. The sound quality and available volume are very good for such a small device. It does, however
Bought this to use in a small room. The sound quality and available volume are very good for such a small device. It does, however, start distorting near full volume, but we would never use that volume for anything other than testing the speaker.

B&W are noted for producing realistic sound. If you are looking for silly bass levels, look elsewhere. If you want true to life sound quality, B&W is your brand.

The A5 is perfect for a small to medium sized room. For a bigger room the A7 may be more suitable, depending on how loud you play your music.

Setup was very easy and worked first time. I downloaded the setup app before the speaker arrived, and had it playing within a couple of minutes of plugging it in. Have your WiFi password handy for installation.

Price: It is B&W, so it will have a premium price. I believe the value is worth it.
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Written by Craig H from Smyrna

Nov 22, 2012

47 of 62 people found this useful

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Very good for the size

Excellent so far

5.0 out of 5 stars

On the technical side, everything just worked. Very simple set up procedure—best AirPlay setup I've used so far, in fact. (I've se
On the technical side, everything just worked. Very simple set up procedure—best AirPlay setup I've used so far, in fact. (I've set up 4 different AirPlay speakers.)

On the audio side, I can't imagine much better sound coming out of a similar size package. I am especially glad there isn't an artificially inflated bass or other gimmicks that make it sound big on the showroom but not so good at home. Instead, this simply delivers crisp audio without distortion.

As long as you aren't expecting a wide open stereo sound stage or to experience the kind of sound you'd get out of a larger system with dedicated speaker, receiver, and amp, you will be very pleased with this product.

It's so good I'm thinking about getting the MM-1 computer speakers, which this is apparently similar too.
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Should Have Listened

1.0 out of 5 stars

I pride myself on making well informed decisions while striving for quality products. In this case, I thought I knew better and c
I pride myself on making well informed decisions while striving for quality products. In this case, I thought I knew better and chose to ignore the reviewers on the lack of consistent connections.
Let me be clear, when the speaker works, it is amazing. However, many, many times I try and connect via AirPlay and the speaker just isn't there. I have reset the settings so many times, I now leave a pin next to the speaker to help with the reset. After connecting, which at times includes the full reset and connect again, the sound is awesome...actually better than just about anything I have heard for the size and price. But....it has to be connected to hear it...UGH
…

Written by Daniel L from Amherst

Jun 24, 2015

4 of 5 people found this useful

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Should Have Listened

To fix the dropouts....

5.0 out of 5 stars

A lot of routers will automatically assign a wifi channel to use, and will change the channel depending on the signal strength.
A lot of routers will automatically assign a wifi channel to use, and will change the channel depending on the signal strength.

Somewhere in the WIFI settings, there will be an option to select a channel to use. Select channel number. Make sure it does not say 'Auto'.

The A5 operates on the G standard (unfortunately) so you need to look at the 2.4GHz section if you have a dual band router (2.4/5.0GHz).

Save settings and exit. You might need to reboot your router.
…

Written by Benjamin P from LONDON

May 23, 2015

4 of 4 people found this useful

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To fix the dropouts....

Drops connection

2.0 out of 5 stars

I have the same issue as several other people on this forum. The sound is great, but recently, it drops the connection and I have
I have the same issue as several other people on this forum. The sound is great, but recently, it drops the connection and I have to go through the process of resetting it all over.
…

Best Answer:

Hi,

B&W website state that "Wireless Music Systems are not compatible with Wireless N (802.11n)".
Hi,

B&W website state that "Wireless Music Systems are not compatible with Wireless N (802.11n)".

In order to use it with this class of router, you'll need to "ensure the router is broadcasting using a wireless G (802.11g) signal, or a mixed variant including wireless G. Most routers will have this enabled automatically."
…

Answer

Yes it will work with a 3.5mm Auxiliary cable but it will not work wirelessly through airplay as the
Yes it will work with a 3.5mm Auxiliary cable but it will not work wirelessly through airplay as the Nano does not support airplay.
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Best Answer:

Yes, you can select multiple speakers in iTunes from airplay. There are two options, one for single
Yes, you can select multiple speakers in iTunes from airplay. There are two options, one for single input and an option for multiple inputs. Your speakers have to be on the same network in order to select and play simultaenously from a single source. Please note that from iOS you will need an App in order to stream to multiple B&W speakers. WHAALE might be a good option to achieve this.
…

Answer

You can on a Mac anyway! If you go into audio preferences you have the option to select these as the
You can on a Mac anyway! If you go into audio preferences you have the option to select these as the audio output rather than the built in speakers..
…